


Cuy'val Gebi

by mneiai



Series: mneiai's Spooky Week [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Behavior, Clones, Cuy'val Dar, Gen, Implied Child Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It's the clones being trained on Kamino so all of those implications, Monsters, No Beta We Die Like Jango, Planet Kamino (Star Wars), Pre-Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27259171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mneiai/pseuds/mneiai
Summary: The Alphas had been trained to be many things--soldiers, killers, Mando'ade (despite the Republic's ownership). Every moment of their training was designed to strip them of their fear and uncertainty.So why, then, were their times that the halls stunk of their own fear? That they huddled together inside their sleeping pods, which were not designed for two adolescent humans to fit, waiting out the night?A Cuy'kaysh Dar AU.
Relationships: Alpha-17 & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Clone Troopers
Series: mneiai's Spooky Week [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985102
Comments: 10
Kudos: 278
Collections: Spooky Wars Week





	Cuy'val Gebi

**Author's Note:**

> I said this on the last spooky week fic, but I thought I'd say it here too for the people coming in from Cuy'kaysh. One of my fav parts of Halloween season when it comes to TV shows is how they'll have AU episodes that are not part of the canon of the show, but just do fun things with the characters/settings. So, this is an AU "Halloween Special" for [Cuy'kaysh Dar.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25427407)
> 
> For those who haven't read that fic, the tl;dr is that Obi-Wan fell during the Naboo mission and ended up running, believing he'd be executed by the Order. He was found by Jango Fett while Jango was recruiting trainers for the clones (the trainers in Legends were called the Cuy'val Dar) and Obi-Wan ended up one of them.
> 
> Cuy'val Gebi means something like "those who are close."
> 
> Written for Spooky Wars Week Day 5: Ancient Enemies.

The Alphas had been trained to be many things--soldiers, killers, Mando'ade (despite the Republic's ownership). Every moment of their training was designed to strip them of their fear and uncertainty.

So why, then, were their times that the halls stunk of their own fear? That they huddled together inside their sleeping pods, which were not designed for two adolescent humans to fit, waiting out the night?

None of them ever acknowledged it, in the harsh artificial light of day.

As they grew older, so did the standards. Most of them were tasked with training their younger siblings in the ways of being a soldier, and the habits and knowledge they shared was the same.

They knew the standards were less than they were--less sharp, less observant. Not exactly full people. But none of them had thought to hand out the warnings they hadn't needed.

The first standards who disappeared on one of Those Nights might have been a fluke. The next ones, not so much.

After drawing lots, an alpha was sent to the trainers, not sure how much they knew.

***

"Monsters," Reau scoffed.

Ben, though, he didn't even look at her. "Tell me more," he said, in that gentle tone of his, and the cadets had spilled everything.

Not remembering the last time he’d been so nervous, 77 had to stop himself from fidgeting as he waited for Ben to react. With his eyes closed, even a Force null could tell he was doing _something_ beyond perception, though, which definitely meant he was considering what they were saying.

Or making a big show of humoring them. Also possible, though normally something he broke out more with the standards than the Alphas. 

77 should have made 17 do this.

“I think it might be best if you showed me where these cadets have gone missing.” 

Ben’s words brought 77’s attention back to him, eyes following the movements as Ben clipped his lightsabers to his belt. He didn’t always wear those around, especially not in the residential areas, so 77 was starting to weigh the odds of Ben actually believing him more seriously.

“Cerasin, you can’t really--”

“Beta, regardless of what is going on, there are cadets going missing.” When he wanted to, Ben could look very intimidating. “Unless this is another _battle circle_ mishap or similar, I think we should investigate.”

She actually cringed back, then scowled, grabbing her guns and buy’ce. 77 couldn’t believe _Reau_ was actually going to investigate with them, but he supposed more fighters were better. Even if she made his skin crawl.

***

“It’s always during a hurricane?”

“Yes, sir.”

Reau scoffed. “They’re probably just being careless and getting swept away.”

“Swept away?” Ben raised his eyebrows. “The barriers and force fields around the city keep out the worst of the storms, otherwise we’d have serious flooding issues to worry about.”

“They’re just standards, but they’re being trained well, sirs. The last two were under Alpha-26 and he confirmed they were sufficient students.”

The way Ben’s lips pursed at his words reminded 77 that Ben _liked_ the standards and he should be more careful about what he said around them. According to 17, Ben was like that, though--he was fond of animals, too.

“So, a well-trained patrol goes missing on the night of a major storm,” Reau muttered, tapping a finger against her lips in thought. “Have we ruled out the Kaminiise?”

77 scowled, but stayed silent, not wanting to become too informal around the trainers.

Ben shook his head, folding his arms in front of himself. “Even with us discouraging them from...decommissioning...the cadets, they still have ones that are unable to survive on their own. If it’s raw material or some sort of experiment they’re wanting to run. And technically the cadets are,” his nose wrinkled, making 77’s lips twitch at how silly the expression was, “property of the Jedi Order and the Republic. Not going through the proper procedures would be theft.”

“Then just wait until Fett gets back. Four standards are nothing.” Reau was already making her way back inside before she finished speaking.

That left 77 and Ben, who was staring out at the ocean beyond them with an expression 77 couldn’t place. “Sir?”

Giving a little shake of his body, Ben turned his attention back to 77. “I want you to tell me, the next time one of these nights happen, alright? Send someone to find me before it starts getting bad.”

“Do you have an idea, sir?”

Ben’s lopsided smile didn’t fill 77 with a lot of confidence. “We need to do some reconnaissance first, cadet.”

***

The next time one of Those Nights came, 30 was the one sent to warn Ben. 30 _liked_ Ben, who treated him like all of his concerns during training were real and valid and who had once _changed an entire lesson plan_ because 30 needed that.

Admitting he was _scared of the unknown_ to Ben was still really, really hard.

But Ben, as always, knew exactly what to do. He pulled 30 into his apartment (and 30 was really, really glad that the Template wasn’t around because he didn’t know what he’d do if he had to show up at _his_ apartments), closed the door, and then...pulled 30 into a hug.

It was a _really_ good hug, one 30 gave back as strong as he could. Someday, he’d be near Ben’s height, and he could give better hugs to him, but now he stood up on his toes and tried his best.

(17 would have a _fit_ if he found out, but 30 knew Ben wasn’t going to tell anyone)

“Head back to bed, I’ve got watch from here.”

“What? Sir, you can’t go out there!”

Ben squeezed his shoulder, guiding him back to the hallway. “I won’t be alone.”

“Is this your weird ‘I’ve got the Force’ thing, sir? Because I don’t think Fett will approve.” 30 had to duck his head to get away from Ben’s hand when he ruffled his hair, pouting up at the trainer. 

“Yes, it is,” before 30 could protest, Ben added, with a smirk, “because the Force lets me know which other trainers are still awake.”

“Oh.”

“Yes,” Ben teased, “‘oh’.”

That still didn’t stop 30 from staying up, anxiously waiting to hear back from Ben. Most of the others did, too, clumped up together on the floor. 

“Even if it is a monster, _Ben_ can take it,” 17 insisted, and 30 found himself nodding along.

And Ben, being Ben, didn’t make them wait until the next class one of them had with him. He appeared at their door, early in the morning hours, when that creeping wrongness had just started to dissipate. 

He was soaking wet, rivulets of water still running off his armor. “We managed not to lose anyone,” he stated, eyes moving along each of their faces. “I’ll be discussing the situation with the Kaminiise. Until then, Skirata will be using his authority to call off any patrols by cadets during bad storms.”

Whatever he had seen, 30 realized, had been _bad_. This was what Ben got like when he was shaken (like when 66 had been injured trying to do a badly setup course Priest had made, when Ben had been the one to wait with them for the medics to get there, all the playfulness gone).

Maybe it made 30 a coward, but he was glad he hadn’t been out there, too.

***

17 didn’t let lots be drawn this time, he insisted he was going to Ben to ask about what had happened and he went.

The code he’d been given for Ben’s door worked (not that he’d thought Ben would lie about that sort of thing, since it had been “in case of an emergency”) and he slipped inside, waiting on the small couch he found. Some of the trainers, from what others said, had lots of personal items around, but Ben wasn’t like that. Besides some parts that 17 was pretty sure were for lightsabers, the only really personal things around were flimsybooks ( _real_ flimsybooks, which were probably worth a dozen weird personal items from other trainers). 

He didn’t touch anything but the couch, though. Not this time.

Ben arrived a few minutes after 17 got settled, just as 17 had figured he would, and wasn’t surprised to find him there. He set down his datapads and immediately started making tea for them.

“How is everyone doing?”

“They’re fine, a little shaken, but we’re all happy that you, you know.”

“Believed you?”

17 shrugged, it was hard to admit that even he had worried Ben would find them ridiculous. “You found something?”

The tea preparation was something to keep Ben’s hands busy, but 17 still took the mug offered to him, blankly sipping from it and not giving any indication of how gross he found it. Ben, though, sat down with the mug in both hands, took a deep breath of the steam, and sipped like it was the best thing he’d had all week.

“There was...a presence,” he finally said, when 17 had worked his way through half the leaf-water in his own mug. “It was too dark to see entirely. Humanoid, but not any of the native species we knew of.”

“You knew of,” 17 repeated, “but the Kaminiise had an idea?”

Ben reached over and squeezed 17’s shoulder, eyes crinkling in that way that showed he was _really_ smiling. “Good catch. Yes. Or, I should say, they offered only a _legend_ and are insistent that it’s meaningless old superstitions.”

There was this tone that Ben got, sometimes, when he was trying hard not to say anything demeaning about someone else. It had never been used on a cadet, as far as 17 knew (not even the standards who deserved it), but it came out often when Ben was talking about the Kaminiise.

He set his empty mug down on the table, internally preening at Ben’s pleased look, and leaned forward. “What is it?”

Opening his mouth, then seeming to think better of what he was about to say, Ben set his own tea aside and leaned in, too (someday, when 17 was older, he’d hold onto all these sorts of memories in a way he couldn’t fathom now).

“Deep in the oceans, a long time ago, another species lived alongside the Kaminiise,” Ben began, his voice falling into a storyteller’s lilt, drawing 17 in. “They were known for very little but destruction. While the Kaminiise built towns, then cities, these others warred among each other until very few were left. The survivors, having no infrastructure, having destroyed environments, took to stealing young Kaminiise when they could, dragging them back to their caves and...well….”

“Eating them,” 17 stated, maybe a little too eagerly as he forgot, for a moment, this was a real story and not one of the Mandalorian legends the trainers sometimes told.

Ben just gave him an indulgent smile. “Yes. I’m afraid that’s how the story goes. The Kaminiise said they were the only similar species on the planet and, unless there’s an invasive species they didn’t know about, the only one that might not register to the sensors here, since they’d be calibrated into the typical environmental scans.”

“No offense, sir, but that sounds like complete osik. What do you _really_ believe?”

He didn’t even bother pretending to look offended at 17’s language. “Knowing the Kaminiise as we do, I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever that was had been _created_ by them. Perhaps so long ago that they do have legends instead of facts, now,” he added, seeming to feel the need to soften his suspicions without much feeling behind it.

17 scowled. “What’s our next move, sir?”

“Ah, well, you and the rest of the Alphas will be making sure everyone stays safely inside during these storms. I and some of the other trainers, as well as what Kaminiise we could convince, will be investigating more.”

“What? Sir, we’re trained to--”

“Be an army, not investigators.” Ben patted his shoulder, again, but this time it felt a lot less supportive. “And you’re still _in_ training. You need your rest and your health. Running around all night in the rain won’t help with that.”

The unspoken reminder of _decommissioning_ hung over them and 17 held back his shudder. He wouldn’t, refused to, be a failure. He’d prove to Ben how good he was, someday, and he’d be right there beside him for every mission like this.

***

Obi-Wan had two weeks before the next “storm” was upon them. Now that it had been pointed out, he could tell the difference in the atmosphere just as the Alphas could. It wasn’t _dark_ , as in the Force, but it was a feral hunger that rose up with the waves crashing against the shelter of the city.

When had he grown so used to being surrounded by hostility, he had wondered the first time he let himself _feel_ , that he had missed this?

He commed Zala, the only Nautolan among the trainers, and Mij and Tervho, and started putting on the specialty gear he’d cobbled together, ready in case he was going to be knocked into the ocean. Underwater fights were awful, but even worse when he wasn’t prepared. 

The hurricane made it hard to hear anything when they reached the outside walkways, even with the shielding protecting them from the worst of it. Tervho went ahead of them, excited enough at the prospect of “monster hunting” that she insisted on playing bait, and it was only through their comms and the Force that they kept track of her.

Obi-Wan only had a second to warn her before the creature struck.

She went down fighting, blasters streaking light against the darkness around them as the thing overpowered her, knocking her to the ground.

It shook off the blaster bolts, but its skin sizzled under Obi-Wan’s lightsaber, making it shriek and struggle to escape back into the water. The pain and fear it felt tore through Obi-Wan’s mind, but it was from the confusion of a predatory animal, and he could push that away. It had killed cadets--children--and Obi-Wan found he didn’t really care _why_. 

The lightsaber burned it, but didn’t cut through it. Lightning, though, took it down.

The creature writhed on the ground, Terhvo kicking her feet from where she was lying nearby to get out of the way. Mij dropped down beside her, checking her over.

Obi-Wan felt like he was burning inside from the cold touch of the Dark, but he didn’t stop until he felt life fading from the creature. For all there was a certain cruelty in the way he had to kill it, he reminded himself it was certainly better than whatever the Kaminoans would do to it.

“Can we leave that in Reau’s bed?” Tervho asked, into the growing silence. “Proof to stop doubting the cadets.”

Their laughter only had a slight tinge of nervousness. “Would she even notice the difference between that thing and Priest?” Mij added, setting the three of them off again.

***

Ben came to the Alphas that night, soaking wet and looking haunted, his eyes somehow much greener than normal. 

“It’s dead, all signs point to there only being one of them, but I think we should be careful the next few months.”

They agreed, having already been taught the value of caution (even if they often disregarded it).

**Author's Note:**

> While I’m not having all of the clones (minus Nulls, basically) not get names until they’re full-grown, this is set before most have names, so as reference:  
> Alpha-77: Fordo  
> Alpha-30: Sull  
> Alpha-66: Muzzle  
> Alpha-17: Alpha-17


End file.
